Raytheon Awarded $212.8 Million for Evolved Seasparrow Missile

Raytheon
Company was awarded two contracts totaling $212.8 million for the
production of the Evolved Seasparrow Missile, with an option for $33
million in additional work.

The first contract from the U.S. Navy NATO Seasparrow Project Office
(NSPO), as previously announced by the Department of Defense, is for
the production of ESSMs through fiscal year 2014 and contains the
option for further production. The agreement also provides NSPO consortium-member
navies with miscellaneous spare parts, containers and test equipment.

The second
contract is a two-year direct commercial sale. Raytheon will provide
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan the components and assemblies
necessary to manufacture and deliver ESSM weapons to the Japanese
Ministry of Defense. Licensed production will take place at MELCO's
facility in Japan.

"ESSM
is the foundation of our allies' anti-ship missile defense,"
said Ed Roesly, ESSM program director for Raytheon Missile Systems.
"Raytheon, along with our international team of 18 partner companies,
has advanced this world-class system to a point of prominence in ship
self-defense. We continue to make missile improvements to outpace
the threat."

ESSM defends
the battlespace by delivering ship self-defense firepower against
high-G maneuvering anti-ship cruise missiles as well as surface and
low-velocity air threats. ESSM consortium countries include Australia,
Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Turkey
and the United States. Japan and UAE are also ESSM customer nations.

As a tail-controlled missile, ESSM uses enhancements to its guidance
system to take advantage of improved seeker sensitivity, increased propulsion
and greater weapon accuracy. These features enable ESSM to arrive at
the intercept point with more endgame speed and agility to counter the
threat.

ESSM Contribution to Warfighters

* Capability bridges the gap between close-in air defense and local
area defense systems.
* Kinematics result in reduced time to target.
* Multi-mission weapon system is effective against high-speed or low-velocity
threats.